Hello From The Fashion Trust U.S. Awards in L.A.

I've been reporting on fashion and style my entire career, read me now in this spot.

Hello Substackers! After years of writing for other publications, now I’m writing for myself. I’ll be covering fashion, style, shopping and culture, supporting the L.A. community as I always have, and venturing elsewhere, too. I hope you’ll follow along as I take you inside events like this one…

Stephanie Horton, Senior Director of Marketing at Google Shopping; Diotima designer Rachel Scott, and Law Roach at the Fashion Trust U.S. Third Annual Awards April 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. All photos courtesy of Stefanie Keenan and Charlie Gallay for Getty.

Tariff D-Day came down at 12 a.m. EDT, smack in the middle of The Fashion Trust U.S. third annual awards ceremony Tuesday night in L.A., underscoring why fashion designers need all the help they can get.

Kudos to Fashion Trust U.S. founder Tania Fares for bringing it, with $500,000 in prizes presented to five designers (only one of them L.A.-based, actually) at the swanky awards dinner which brought out out a bevy of celebs including Hailey Bieber presenting the first Honorary Award to Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello. (He may not have gotten the Oscar for “Emilia Perez,” but he got this!)

Keke Palmer hosted the festivities with Colman Domingo, Kate Hudson, Ciara, Kerry Washington, Julia Fox, Lisa Rinna and many more doing their best peacocking. Check out the clothes…

Colman Domingo and Dani Griffiths of Clyde; Julia Fox; Kerry Washington, Aja Naomi King and Gabrielle Union; Michaela Jae Rodriguez; Kwame Adusei and Kate Hudson; Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Fernando Garcia, Kathy Hilton and Rebecca Vallance; Petra Collins and Caroline Polachek; Maddie Ziegler; Lisa Rinna; Guetcha Tondreau and David LaChapelle.

There were also a ton of designers out to support including Jeremy Scott, Willy Chavarria, Bob Mackie, Monique Lhuillier, Olympia Gayot (J. Crew took a table), Brandon Blackwood, Sergio Hudson, Peter Dundas, Chrome Hearts’ Laurie Lynn Stark, Cult Gaia’s Jasmin Larian Hekmat (who also had a table), and Daniela Villegas, who made the supercool awards statuettes inspired by colorful beetle wings, in keeping with the look of her fine jewelry.

Jeremy Scott and Willy Chavarria.

Jamaican-born, New York-based designer Rachel Scott of Diotima took the Ready-to-wear Designer prize, following her 2024 CFDA American Womenswear Designer of the Year win, telling the crowd in L.A. how proud she is to be able to use fashion to “talk about craft in a way that’s not centered in Europe and really conservative notions of value.” I’ve written a lot about her sultry, craftsy clothes and love to wear them myself.

Designer Patrick Taylor in one of his sweaters, center, with Lauren Parrish, CMO of St. John, left, and Mandy West, CCO of St. John, right.

Knitwear designer and recent Parsons MFA grad Patrick Taylor, who has already lined up a capsule collection with Dover Street Market, nabbed the Graduate Award sponsored by St. John for his whimsical-nostalgic apres-ski wear. (TBD whether the award leads to a collab with the SoCal luxury brand with knits in its DNA, but it really should—and could lend a dash of fun.)

Clyde accessories designer Dani Griffiths wearing her Sazy beret in coated paper.

The Accessories Award went to New York-based Dani Griffiths of Clyde who said she’s happy to be riding the resurgence in popularity of statement hats as seen all over the fall 2025 runways. (She has some good ones, like the Kim feather toque and the Sazy beret). “People want the drama,” the designer told me of the rising hat trend.

Rebecca Zeijdel-Paz of Beck Jewels won the Jewelry Award, and Nana Kwame Adusei won the Sustainability Award, giving a poignant speech about how his model of production on demand, having his own factory in L.A., and using upcycled materials, were all inspired by his growing up next to a landfill in Ghana.

Tania Fares, center, with this year’s FTUS designer finalists.

In the room at the former Warner Studios Lot was a who’s who of stylists, including FTUS board members Carlos Nazario and Karla Welch; Law Roach (who took his opportunity on stage to tell the crowd he’s returning to styling full-time); Maryam Malakpour fresh off styling Elton John and Brandi Carlile in Valentino for “Saturday Night Live”; and Elizabeth Stewart wearing a fab pink tinsel tweed suit by Wolk Morais, and arriving with the L.A. designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais.

Brian Wolk, Elizabeth Stewart and Claude Morais

Daniela Villegas; Carmen Busquets and Anne Crawford.

It was fun to see fellow Blue Devil Annabeth Gish looking sleek in St. John, and FTUS advisory board member Anne Crawford in a sculptural gown by Rick Owens.

B and Jonas Akerlund; Christian Serratos and Monique Lhuillier; Anastasia Soare; Peter Dundas and Laurie Lynn Stark; Maryam Malakpour and Jennifer Smith.

Fares and FTUS director Hanna Isaksson have really raised the bar for fashion events in L.A., bringing in Sephora and other new sponsors, too. The evening was the perfect high-low mix of couture and caviar, burgers and fries (which were on the menu for dinner). And Natasha Bedingfield had everyone on their feet belting out the words to “Unwritten.”

xoBooth